How do I get Case Management experience?

[jdubs99]

Hi everyone,

I just graduated from a BSN program and passed NCLEX last week (yippee!) and will begin working in a Level III NICU at a large university hospital in mid-July. I am interested in one day becoming a Case Manager, but I feel lost when trying to formulate a plan to get to that point. It seems like all of the positions I've seen require "case management experience", or the case management certification, but how do you get that experience as a new bedside nurse? Especially the CM-certification... don't you need 1-2 years of case management experience before that can happen? How did you get your start in case management? I have been accepted into an MSN program for Leadership and Management... will that be helpful for this position, or should I look into other areas?

Any advice is appreciated :)

[L8RRN]

I have a BSN and worked med/surg for a while then OR and home health. I have been an RN for 4 years and got a hospital case manager position 6 months ago. I work with a girl who had just med/surg experience before moving to case management. I also have a friend that got hired on at another facility as a case manager (rehab) with 1 year of med/surg and she did 2 years in psych. My position does not REQUIRE certification. My friend at the other facility was told she had two years to get it (and they will pay). Bedside/hospital experience seems to be the key in my area for breaking into case management. One thing that stood out for my resume, though, was the title case manager with my home health job. It is TOTALLY different from what I am doing now, but I was called a case manager and I think that caught their eye and they interviewed me and I got it even without actual experience.

Good luck! I LOVE what I am doing now and am soooo glad I made the change to CM. I did not like my other nursing jobs very much at all and can't imagine doing anything else now that I am in it.

[SummerGarden, BSN, MSN, RN]

OP: Yes, you are correct that most CM jobs require Case Management work experience and certifications. Although you cannot land a job that requires those, you can land an entry-level position after you have gained clinical bedside work experience. Thus, focus on becoming a competent nurse at this time.

Part of becoming a competent nurse includes paying attention to the discharge planning process in your nursing assessments as well as psychosocial issues that are concerning your patients and his/her family because these affect your patient's health outcomes. If you do this, you will also find that you are able to assist with discharge planning and have something to say in CM interviews later on.

In addition, get to know your Nurse CMs. As I mentioned before, entry-level CM positions exist. If you impress the Nurse CMs within your hospital, one or more of them may put in a good word for you with the hiring manager of an entry-level Nurse Case Management position. Good luck!

[jdubs99]

Thank you for the feedback! Any thoughts about appropriate MSN programs for a CM position?

[SummerGarden, BSN, MSN, RN]

Thank you for the feedback! Any thoughts about appropriate MSN programs for a CM position?

Any program that is accredited is fine. In fact, although Case Management MSN programs exist, you don't need to get that degree to be a Nurse CM. You can get any Masters degree (it does not even have to be in Nursing) and still be able to work as a Nurse CM. Go for what you want/like.

[jdubs99]

Well that's good to know! Thank you!

[dallover]

Please let me know if anyone out there works in an acute care hospital (my unit is Med/Surg) and your employer expects you to do both the direct care of your five patients (often all five are primary care) while also doing the case management on two or three patients on your assignment. I can't find any local hospital that is expecting both roles in one RN. Any input appreciated.

[lynnmf2]

How can I take on line class to recertify my professional utilization certificate?

[SummerGarden, BSN, MSN, RN]

How can I take on line class to recertify my professional utilization certificate?

Are you asking to take classes to prep to re-take the exam or to get CEUs? Check out http://www.mckesson.com/payers/professional-certification/professional-certification/... If you received your original cert through that organization you can contact them to get an answer to your question.

[SummerGarden, BSN, MSN, RN]

Please let me know if anyone out there works in an acute care hospital (my unit is Med/Surg) and your employer expects you to do both the direct care of your five patients (often all five are primary care) while also doing the case management on two or three patients on your assignment. I can't find any local hospital that is expecting both roles in one RN. Any input appreciated.

Well, when I worked bedside for a Medical Surgical floor the staff had to perform some Case Management duties or all of our patients prior to discharge. We also had dedicated MSNs and Nurse Case Managements on the floor.

The staff RNs had to perform the admission assessments (this included the CMs initial discharge plan), set up transportation for transfer or placement, provide for the medications needed upon discharge unless the patient was not insured.. etc. The Nurse CMs read our discharge plans and performed the tasks of finding placement and arranging for placement, Utilization Review, providing for medications for the uninsured, arranged payment of transportation for the uninsured, and submitted additional referrals to cover other needs. I cannot recall all of what we had to do vs. the Nurse CMs, but our tasks (those of Staff RNs) overlapped a lot!

What are you having to do specifically? Do you actually have to perform UR and to find placement for your patients?

[YShellRN]

Good morning. If you're still interested, a company called Kingstree hires RNs that seeking case management experience and they pay well. It's home based as well. The website is kingstree.net. Good luck!